Cup of Coffee

April 11, 2023: Piece Of Cake

39 Comments

No Naz? No Jaden? No Rudy? No problem...

(On the last game, Rudy is a choad obvi, but Jaden's actions were even more egregious here. I love the kid so much, but that was really, really stupid.)

39 thoughts on “April 11, 2023: Piece Of Cake”

  1. The Hold Steady at the State Fair was just announced for Sept 2nd.

    There's an MPR member discount option, does anyone know how to avail one's self of it?

      1. Wowowowow. D4? The state fair?!?! D4 at the state fair?!?!?!?!???

        I’m going to buy tickets with the idea that I’m going to go to this show. Who knows if it’s possible but I’m going to dream.

  2. Brew is in my " inner circle all time favorite Wolves" players.

  3. I was up from 0230–0600 with a hypoglycemic diabetic cat. Poor guy was confused, clumsy, disoriented, uncommunicative (he’s a very social cat), and his eyes were fully dilated even when I’d shine a flashlight on his face. At one point he wedged himself between a fully open door and the wall, trying to climb through the slot above the hinge. I brought him to bed, but if I let go of him he kept trying to climb into the crevice between the mattress & wall (no headboard on the bed). It was pretty disturbing. First time I’ve had to use corn syrup as a rescue method.

  4. Some rambling thoughts from someone who took a disliking to Rudy Gobert long before it was popular to do so:

    I think there are some interesting comparisons here between Donovan Mitchell and Kyle Anderson and between the Jazz and TWolves organizational cultures.

    I confess to knowing little if anything about Kyle Anderson - but in my reading about him I he has been referred to as "The undisputed locker room leader" and Gobert himself said "Kyle wants to win, and sometimes he's a little aggressive in the way he talks, but I don't take it personally,"

    That quote by Gobert is clearly revealing as wishful thinking as Rudy clearly took Anderson's words personally - and that is who Rudy has always been - but it was covered up in Utah.

    If the Jazz organization excels at anything - it excels at keeping things in house with a total and complete control over the local media coverage and in keeping a tight leash on its players. I think the Jazz organizational culture is closer to that of the Minnesota Twins and its a culture that raises the floor and also creates a ceiling of team performance. Both the Jazz and Twins are known for sustained above average performance but outside of 87, 91, 97, and 98 - no success. So generations of fans who aren't at least 40 years old have no concept of either team winning anything.

    Donovan Mitchell oddly both fit and very much did not fit the Jazz culture. He is very self aware and protective of his public image and parses his words so he was comfortable with the Jazz culture of blatantly lying to the media or refusing to be interviewed by any media member who dared to actually try and do their job and not work as an arm of the teams public relations department. But he was very much not a political or cultural fit to the White, Mormon, Republican dominated state and demanded a trade (again in a quiet manner that wasn't revealed by a Wojbomb or other national media personality) even after the Jazz fleeced the TWolves to rid themselves of Gobert. The lack of any quality media in SLC means we will never know for certain - but the local storylines at the time were that Mitchell gave ownership a "move him or move me" demand but ultimately it was Ainge who determined moving them both and doing a full rebuild was best and Mitchell was more than happy to leave - even if it meant Cleveland instead of back home to NY.

    I think Mitchell (and many other Jazz teammates) disliked Gobert to the same degree and intensity that Anderson (and other TWolves) clearly do. Frustrated by a sense of wasted talent - as amazing as Gobert is on defense he has done nothing over the course of a 10 year career to even attempt to develop an offensive skill and he is to put it kindly - a goofball whereas the more common nomenclature would be to call him immature. His entire offensive game requires help from teammates to execute a perfect pick and roll or to lob a pass in a way that Gobert is able to handle it. And Rudy is very quick to physically and verbally display irritation towards his teammates on both sides of the ball when they aren't going out of their way to make the game easier for him.

    One could argue that the manner in which the Jazz and Mitchell handled Gobert hindered Rudy's ability to grow and develop - that they more or less enabled him and created a codependent relationship that protected his immaturity and lack of development. I certainly make this argument and whether the TWolves were aware of it and didn't care, were aware of it and arrogantly thought it would be different for them, or weren't aware of it when they made the trade - who knows. Minneapolis sports media is about as sycophantic and feckless as Salt Lake City.

    Others could argue that Kyle Anderson lacks a level of maturity and/or self awareness and/or self control that Donovan Mitchell possesses and there is probably some truth to that - but I think it would be unfair to push that too hard and it seems like no one in the TWolves organization, local media, or the fan base is doing that as Gobert has truly been exposed in a way that the Jazz protected him from.

    1. G - I sincerely appreciate this breakdown. I absolutely believe Connelly fleeced himself here (and the Wolves Tradition lives on). I’m very interested to see what KAT does tonight.

      1. The Lakers opened as 7.5 pt favorites and it has moved to 8.5 as I just now checked it. I am interested to see how the TWolves play tonight but assuming they lose how they play vs the New Orleans OKC winner and whether or not Gobert plays in that game is what I am really looking forward to.

    1. That might have been the worst quarter of NBA basketball of the entire season.

            1. KAT is the only reason the 4th quarter and overtime mattered in a game where we should’ve been blown out by 30. He can’t win it alone.

              1. Whether that's on the coach or the player, dude was a pumpkin in the end-game.

                It's okay to say it out loud.

                1. hungry joe said “the game” and not “the endgame,” so no, it is not.

                  But yeah, Finch did some weird things here. I’m guessing he found himself coaching a winnable game that he thought was completely unwinnable just hours earlier.

                  1. You watch a lot more Timberwolves than I do. I usually tune in for 4th quarters.

                    My impression of KAT, based only on that vision, is that he is not a player you want to rely on when the game is on the line. It feels gross saying that, because the same was often said of KG, and other excellent players. But the reality I've seen is that he is not a 4th quarter player. Maybe there are good reasons for it. Maybe it can be fixed. Maybe it's not even his fault, and that goes to the coaches entirely. I certainly wouldn't know. And I feel a bit like Geoff in saying this. But that's where I'm at based on what I've seen.

                    1. And I feel a bit like Geoff in saying this.

                      That should be your first indication that you are on the wrong track.......

                2. KAT played with no aggression after his fifth "foul" to avoid fouling out. The first four seemed legit, but that fifth foul sure looked like AD just flailing into KAT

                  1. I think he said in his post game he couldn't drive because he figured he'd get called for a bullshit 6th foul, and, based on how he's been reffed for his career, I think he was right.

                    This game was lost by Edwards, Prince and Anderson. They were cover-your-eyes bad in the 4th (I didn't watch OT because the result was obvious).

                    1. I get that, but he was doing absolutely zero good in any other way either. I'd rather him have fouled out trying than make the Wolves play 5-on-4 because he wasn't really engaged.

                    2. I disagree there, he did make some really nice defensive plays after the 5th foul, including a couple blocks on LeBron that, because no one else was playing well ended up in the Lakers hands anyway. They win the game in regulation if Edwards could either make even one shot or not stop the ball on half the possessions and Prince doesn't throw the thing all over the court.

                    3. I can agree with the defense. But I think that makes the offense logic all the more puzzling.

          2. The Lakers should be pretty depressed about how they got that win, and we should be pretty depressed about the fact that we let it slip away. No winners in Los Angeles tonight.

            1. It's professional sports. The Lakers may not feel good about how they played, but I guarantee they are happier than if they had lost and would have had to play another game in order to be rewarded with a trip to Denver.

              1. Yes, of course, but the posturing about the Lakers being a genuine threat to the title is so hollow when they merely scrape by a team in such disarray they kind of became a laughingstock.

                1. Oh my god, that was the single worst half time show I've ever seen. Embarrassing all around.

    1. Might be possible with Stathead and manually comparing dates. I didn't renew my subscription when the costs went way up with the rename so I can't check.

          1. He had 2.4 assists per game for his career and, honestly, that's more than I expected when I went to look it up.

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